Leon Osman believes Everton’s early forays into the transfer market this summer have given Roberto Martinez’s new reign an early lift.

The veteran midfielder has been impressed with the four recruits added so far, after the Blues boss landed £5 million striker Arouna Kone, Antolin Alcaraz, Joel Robles and Gerard Deuloefu, and is now hoping the squad can quickly embrace their new manager’s tactical approach.

He said: “We’ve brought four new signings in already and it’s been impressive. There’s been a momentum with us so far.

“Now we’re all together and have got the rest of our international lads back we’ve got our full squad and we can start to look forward even more.

“It’s about how quickly now we can all understand what the new manager wants and how he wants us to play. That’s different from being comfortable on the ball. We need to be comfortable in the mind as well.”

As a technically gifted midfielder, Osman is pleased by the emphasis on ball-work under Martinez – but was quick to reiterate that there has also been a physical intensity to their pre-season preparations.

“Pretty much everything we’ve done so far on the field has been with the ball,” said the England international. “All the running has been with the ball and it’s something we don’t do usually. I’ve loved it. You’d be surprised how hard it is with the ball though.

“It’s because you’re concentrating on the running and keeping the ball under good control at the same time. We worked long and hard in Austria, three sessions a day.

“As far as being comfortable and composed on the ball goes we’ve certainly got players capable of being that. That’s a positive.”

Meanwhile, Nikica Jelavic’s future could become clearer this week after his representatives sit down with Martinez at Finch Farm.

The Croatian striker is wanted by Bundesliga side Hamburg, although they could struggle to fund a deal for him, with other European sides also showing an interest.

However, Jelavic – who is under contract until 2015 – wants to know where he stands in Martinez’s thinking before he decides whether to try for a move elsewhere.